When I lived in Karjanha, Siraha I bought a typical Nepali bicycle, with flowers on the front, for NPR 6000 ($60). I hadn’t been exercising, working too much, and without a basketball court or swimming pool, biking was the next best thing. I would typically ride from Karjanha to the highway point at Bastipur and buy some fruit, a two kilometer distance.
When I thought that I would be leaving Nepal in May 2015, I promised the bicycle to my friend Simone for his NGO ENGAGE in Kathmandu. After I secured a job in Kathmandu I kept the bike. Now that my foot is healing from a basketball mishap in July, I’m riding again.
My bike is parked at the NGO Friends Service Council Nepal (FSCN) in Imadhol, Lalitpur. If I ride south although I still have to avoid buses, motorcycles and cars, the area becomes rural. If I ride north towards Kathmandu I head to the Ring Road, Gwarko, an urban area. I never rode with a helmet in Karjanha, but I realized that in Kathmandu I needed one and purchased this when I was in the States in June.
Today I rode on the main road towards Gwarko and the Ring Road, full of pot holes, rocks, dust, over loaded buses exhaling huge amounts of black noxious smoke, motorcycles, a few cars, bicycles, downed power lines and people. It’s not an easy ride.
I compare my bicycle ride with that of Nepal and the road to the new Constitution adoption. When I tried to come to Nepal as a VSO volunteer in June 2012, this was delayed due to the Constituent Assembly working on the Constitution. Nothing happened at that time, in fact, it took eight years before the Constitution was adopted last month.
The road to adoption has been rocky, full of pot holes, lots of pollution. The fact that a major earthquake occurred, although maybe an inopportune time, didn’t deter the latest Constituent Assembly from adoption. We now face major fuel shortages because the Madhesis in the Terrai region, along the Indian border and India have closed the border. Certain provisions, e.g. no Madhesi state and citizenship issues for children with one parent as Indian, were left out of the Constitution, although denying in public, infuriated many people connected to India. The Madhesis have had promises reneged on, but now an entire country is being held hostage. Nepal is dependent on India for much of its life blood and this is strangling the country, especially Kathmandu. The situation doesn’t seem to be improving.
Unlike the potholes which may or may not get filled in, Nepalis have a great opportunity to turn the country in a positive direction. But a large part of the problem is in how to deal with people who seemingly want their demands met without compromise. The situation, like the road to Gwarko, has many risks. Nepal is full of ethnic groups and castes and although the country is “one”, similar to most of the world, there are huge divisions. We seemingly want what is best for our “caste” or “tribe” and think much about others. We oppress others based on “differences” in religion, skin color, beliefs. We are now left with a very potholed road with few alternatives to fill these in.
Continuing to ride my bicycle is important for my health and I won’t avoid this no matter what the risks. I just have to continue to wear my helmet, do my best to avoid the potholes and hold my breath when I go by the buses that send black smoke my way.
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